Table Of ContentCharacteristics of road traffic injuries and potential
risk factors in Oman
Ahmed Al-Risi
A thesis submitted for the degree of
Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours
at the University of Otago, Dunedin
New Zealand
January 2013
Abstract
Background:
Globally, road traffic injuries have increased by almost 46% in the twenty years prior to
2010. This makes road traffic crashes (RTC) the tenth leading cause of death in the world
and the leading cause of death of young people. Oman, a wealthy country where motorising
is increasing rapidly, has a very high road traffic mortality. In Oman, road traffic deaths and
injuries are the main external cause of morbidity in young adults and have a direct effect on
the economic and health resources of the country. Road traffic crash research has only
recently begun in Oman. The modifiable causes of this problem and most effective response
have not yet been well-explored.
Aims:
The main aims of the research described in this thesis were:
- To describe the distribution of road traffic crashes in Oman by time, person and
place using the data collected by the Royal Oman Police and examine their
assessment of reasons for crashes, from 1985-2010.
- To collect data in order to estimate the prevalence and distribution of known risk
factors in road traffic crashes in Oman, focusing specifically on Sohar.
Methods:
Two studies were conducted to achieve the aims of this thesis. Firstly, a retrospective case
series used the Royal Oman Police data from 1985-2010. This examined trends in the police
data on road traffic crashes across the whole time period and then summarised the most
recent available year of data (2010) in more detail.
Secondly, a prospective case series of injured drivers admitted to Sohar Hospital Emergency
Department was carried out. Between 20 February 2012 and 20 March 2012, consecutive
injured drivers admitted to Sohar Emergency Department were recruited to the study.
Questionnaire-based face-to-face interviews were held to collect data on
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socio-demographics, circumstances of the crash, and known risk factors for road traffic
injuries, including risk behaviours at the time of the crash and usual behaviours.
All admitted injured drivers were recruited apart from the most seriously injured drivers
who were taken by ambulance to the capital city Muscat for further investigations, and
those who died from their injures.
Results:
According to Royal Oman Police data (1985-2010), total deaths and injuries from RTCs have
increased by almost 300% in Oman since 1985. An element of speeding was reported for all
the crashes since 1992. The victims of road traffic crashes were mostly the young age group
(21-30 years). More drivers have been killed than any other road user group, constituting
43.8% of total road traffic deaths, and passengers have been the most injured, constituting
48.2% of total road traffic injuries.
In the Sohar study, 250 injured drivers, 75% males and 25% females, were interviewed with
a 100% response rate. Interviewed injured drivers were found to have spent long hours on
the roads and had driven for long distances. Overall, less than 5% of injured drivers were
over the age of 35 years. There was a marked difference in the age distribution of male and
female injured drivers. Among men almost half (49.5%) of the injured drivers were 18-25
years old and 45.7% were 25-35. Among women, 95% of injured drivers were 25-35 years
old. Generally, male drivers had more traffic violations than female drivers with 83% of
males reporting at least three traffic violations over the past five years, whereas almost half
of the females reported one or no, traffic violation over the same period. The highest
frequency of crashes occurred on Saturdays and Thursdays (18.8% and 17.6% respectively)
and the majority of the injured drivers were either familiar or very familiar with the roads on
which they crashed.
It was clear that the injured drivers in Sohar routinely ignored the traffic laws and reported
risky driving behaviours. For instance, less than 10% of injured male drivers and only 56% of
female drivers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash. Also, a high proportion
of both male and female drivers were travelling at a speed of 100-140 km/hour at the time
of their crash (65.4% male and 58% female drivers). Moreover, 31.4% of injured male
drivers and 24% of injured female drivers were using their cell phones at the time of their
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crash. When describing their usual driving behaviour, 52.8% of all interviewed drivers
reported that they never or almost never wear seatbelts while driving.
Conclusions:
Overall, the incidence of road traffic crash injuries and deaths is high and increasing in
Oman with a high prevalence of known risk factors for road traffic injuries even where
protective legislation exists. Even though this case series cannot establish that these risk
factors cause road traffic injuries in this population, experience from other countries
suggests that appropriate legislation and increased enforcement could reduce road traffic
injuries in Oman.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Jennie Connor from the
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine for her invaluable support,
guidance, time and comments throughout the period of the thesis.
I would also like to thank my co-supervisor in Oman, associate Professor
Abdullah Al-Maniri for his help while collecting the data in Oman.
Sincere gratitude must also go to the staff at the Department of Preventive
and Social Medicine for welcoming me and helping me with the technical
issues.
I wish to thank all the people in Oman who made my project successful: the
Scholarships Committee at the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry
of Health Committee for approving my project; the research training centre
and all the staff of Sohar Hospital in Oman.
Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support while in
Oman.
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Table of contents
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………….………..….i
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………iv
Table of contents………………………………………………………………………………………..v
List of tables………………………………………………………………………………………….…viii
List of figures……………………………………………………………..………………………………ix
List of abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………..………xi
1. Chapter One: Introduction and Literature Review
1.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………….………….1
1.2. Road traffic crash injuries as a global health problem…………………………….……..……1
1.3. Aims and methods of the literature review…………………………………………………………3
1.4. Road traffic crashes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR)……………….…..….4
1.5. Road traffic crashes in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries………….………5
1.5.1. In the United Arab Emirates………………………………………………………………………..…6
1.5.2. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia…………………………………………………………….……….6
1.5.3. In Kuwait…………………………………………………………………………………………….…………7
1.5.4. In Qatar…………………………………………………………………………………………………………7
1.5.5. In Bahrain……………………………………………………………………………………………………..7
1.6. Overview of the Sultanate of Oman………………………………………….….………………..…..9
1.6.1. Health care in Oman……………………………………………………………………………………11
1.6.2. Emergency care in Oman…………………………………………………………………………….12
1.7. The descriptive epidemiology of road traffic crashes in Oman: a
preliminary analysis……………………………………………………………………………………..……13
1.8. Risk factors for road traffic crash injuries………………………………..………………………..18
1.8.1. Driving speed……………………………………………………………………………………….………20
1.8.2. Restraint non-use (seatbelts and child restraints)……………………………….……….21
1.8.3. Alcohol………………………………………………………………………………………………………..21
1.8.4. Fatigue………………………………………………………………………………………………………..22
1.9. Importance of this research…………………………………………………..…………………….……24
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1.10. Context of this study………………………………………………………….………………………….….25
1.11. Traffic rules in Oman……………………………………………………………………………………..….27
2. Chapter Two: Aims and Methods
2.1. Aims……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…..30
2.2. Part I: Retrospective data from national Royal Oman Police...………………………..…31
2.2.1. Study design and period………………………………………………………………………………31
2.2.2. Data sources………………………………………………………………………………….……..…....31
2.2.3. Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………….……….…..31
2.3. Part II: Prospective case series of injured drivers admitted
to Sohar Hospital Emergency Department…………………………………………………….….32
2.3.1. Place of study……………………………………………………………………………………..…...…32
2.3.2. Study design………………………………………………………………………….……………...…….32
2.3.3. Inclusion and exclusion criteria………………………………………………………..……..…..33
2.3.4. Case definition……………………………………………………………………….……….…….…….33
2.3.5. Data collection………………………………………………………………………..…………..………33
2.3.6. Data analysis…………………………………………………………………………....….……….…….34
2.3.7. Ethics…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….34
3. Chapter Three: Results
3.1. Part I: Retrospective data from national Royal Oman Police………………………………35
3.1.1. Road traffic crashes 1985-2009……………………………………………………………………35
3.1.2. Road traffic crashes 2010…………………………………………………………………….………41
3.2. Part II: Prospective case series of injured drivers admitted
to Sohar Hospital Emergency Department….……………………………………………….……46
3.2.1. Study population..…………………………….………………..……………………………………..46
3.2.2. Circumstances of crashes…………………………….………………………………………….….49
3.2.3. Driver behaviours at time of crash……………….…………………………………………….54
3.2.4. Usual driving behaviour…..………………………………….………….….……………...………60
3.3. Summary of main findings………………………………………………………………….……….…….62
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4. Chapter Four: Discussion
4.1. Main findings……………………………………………………………………..……………………………..64
4.2. Critique of methods……………………………………………………………………………....……..….67
4.3. Implications of findings……………………………………………………………………..…..…….……69
4.3.1. Reducing speed-related crashes………………………………………………..…..…………...69
4.3.2. Seatbelt interventions…………………………………………………………………..…….………72
4.3.3. Child restraints interventions …………………………………………………...…..…..……….74
4.3.4. Reducing alcohol-related crashes …………………………………………………….….…….…….76
4.4. Future research……………………………………………………………………………………………..….78
4.4.1. National Trauma Database………………………………………………………….……….……….....78
4.4.2. Case-control study on risk factors for injuries…………………………….…….....….….78
4.4.3. Work-related fatigue and sleepiness research……………………………….………….…78
4.4.4. Pre-hospitalisation trauma care research…………………………………….………………79
4.4.5. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………….…….80
5. References …………………………………………………………………………..……………………………….….81
6. Appendix……………………………………………………………….…………………………………………..……...89
The Sohar study questionnaire…………………………………………………………………..…………….89
The ethical approval from the Ministry of Health, Oman…………………………….…….……100
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List of tables
Table 1: The Profile of GCC countries……………………….………………………………….....5
Table 2: Road Traffic Crash Injuries and Mortality in GCC countries
(latest data available)…………………………………………………………………………8
Table 3: Overview of the Sultanate of Oman……………………………………………………9
Table 4: RTC mortality by age and sex (1995-2009)………………………………………..17
Table 5: Example of factors contributing to RTC using Haddon Matrix…………..19
Table 6: Speed limit violations……………………………………………………………….………29
Table 7: Mortality and injury rates 1985-2011(per 100,000 population)………..36
Table 8: Description of study population……………………………………………………….48
Table 9: Circumstances at the time of the crash………………………………………….…52
Table 10: Behaviours at the time of the crash
(Male distribution by age groups)…………...……………………………………55
Table 11: Behaviours at the time of the crash (Female distribution by age
groups)……………………………………………………………………………….…………..58
Table 12: Usual driving-related behaviours…………………………………………………….61
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List of figures
Figure 1: Total population of Oman, by Governorate (%)……………………………….11
Figure 2: Number of vehicles registered between 2001-2011……….……………….14
Figure 3: The number and outcome of RTCs by age in 2011……………….………….15
Figure 4: Deaths and injuries due to RTCs by age in 2011…………………….…………16
Figure 5: Deaths and injuries due to RTCs by reason in 2011……………….…………18
Figure 6: Total RTC deaths in Oman, 1985-2009 (n)……………………………………….35
Figure 7: Mortality and injury rates (per 100,000 population) 1985-2011………37
Figure 8: Total RTC injuries in Oman, 1985-2009 (n)………………………………………38
Figure 9: Top three reasons for RTCs attributed by Royal Oman Police
1992-2009………………………………………………………….……………………………39
Figure 10: Total RTC injuries, by road user type in Oman, 1985-2009 (n) ………40
Figure 11: Deaths and injuries among drivers in 2010……………………………………41
Figure 12: Deaths and injuries among passengers in 2010……………………………..42
Figure 13: Total deaths and injuries by road user type in Omanin 2010…..…….43
Figure 14: Total RTC injuries by month in Oman, in 2010……………………………….44
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Description:factors in road traffic crashes in Oman, focusing specifically on Sohar. Overall, the incidence of road traffic crash injuries and deaths is high and
